Did everyone go to an anti-natal/birthing class?

[NinaAutumn]

Just sticking my head in from 2nd tri. This is my first and I am feeling utterly disorganised.

I have looked into a few classes but to be honest they are just all too expensive. NCT in my area is £380 and Hypnobirthing is £280. I just can't afford it.

I was just wondering what you lovely ladies were doing to prepare? Have you all been to local anti-natal classes? Is anyone do it without any prep??

Any advice would be greatly received

 

[Sparkles237]

I haven't been on any, the people I know who have been on them said they have been a waste of time and you get more information off the Internet and YouTube

 

[Mum2BKW]

NHS do free antenatal courses - check with your midwife, they will probably be run at your local hospital.

I think they're usually 1 day courses and tend to have more people present than NCT but should give you all the info you need and are well worth doing if you're not doing NCT - a few people I know have done both!

 

[NinaAutumn]

Thanks for the reply

I have learned so much from talking and asking questions on here and I have loads of friends with young children, and of course my midwife. I just don't know what classes to even look at even if I could afford it!

 

[NinaAutumn]

I was wondering about the NHS free courses. Are they worth going? Did you learn anything new?

 

[amjon]

We're not doing one. Last time I was induced before they recommended we take classes and I was perfectly fine without it. They only offer Lamaze at the hospital anyway and I'm not all that interested in the fast breathing thing.

 

[kirstybumx3]

if you are in UK your midwife should have mentioned any classes available to you, or she may do in the near future.
Ive chosen not to bother going to them, most people ive spoken to have said they are quite long and most of the things they go over are pretty basic.. im pretty clued up on birth and babies, so I figured id go without and if I have any questions at the time its not a crime to ask the midwfe x

 

[MamaFlick]

In the US, most everyone can get free birthing classes. I highly recommend them. My hospital had a really great 5 week class and we practiced breathing techniques (but not Lamaze), techniques to calm and relax our bodies, massage, etc. We also went over all of the phases of labor and anatomy and all that. I am really glad that my hubby and I went.

But if it had been hundreds of dollars, I probably would just look all this stuff up on the internet and practice at home.

We even had this cool practice where our hubs would pinch us on the arm, softly at first and then harder, then softer (trying to mimic a contraction type wave-pain) and we practiced keeping our breathing and bodies nice and calm throughout the whole thing. Then we got to pinch our hubs and see if they could do it. Obviously the pain in no way compares to what labor is like, but I still think it was a neat exercise.

 

[Sarahdisco]

I'm doing a couple of them, the NHS one (were doing the all in one day version), but mainly cause I want some more information on when to go into hospital, breastfeeding etc (plus I want OH to be a bit more aware of whats going to happen as he's a panicker and he'll drive me up the wall!)

I'm also doing Health & Wellbeing in Pregnancy via our local Surestart children's centre. Its an hour of being healthy (so food to avoid, medication info, safety at work etc) and then an hour of prenatal yoga. The yoga is AWESOME. They do half an hour of yoga to help with birth (breathing exercises, positions to try in early and established labour, ways to try and calm yourself down if you panic in labour!) and then half an hour of "relaxation" - which is basically us lying on the floor concentrating on our breathing and having a relax. They turn the lights off, put on some relaxing music and the yoga woman reads this script to get you to relax. I was a bit skeptical about the yoga but it is really helping my back pain!

The woman is also tailoring the class to give us specific exercises - my LO is breech at the minute so yesterday we went through simple exercises to try and encourage her to turn, another girl has SPD so she gave her some exercises to ease the pain.

Its been awesome - I've been able to make some "mum friends" which as its my first has been a real help to have someone to chat to about being pregnant - and best of all - its free!

Have a look in your local childrens centre (if you have one nearby)

 

[Mum2BKW]

I was wondering about the NHS free courses. Are they worth going? Did you learn anything new?

Yes - well worth going. They will give you specific information for your hospital - things like their policies on when to call/go in, what pain relief is available, how long they tend to keep you in for and any options you have for private rooms etc. These things all vary between areas and hospitals so I think it's well worth knowing what's available to you. It's all good looking things up on the internet but if your hospital doesn't offer it then it's not going to be much use to you.

 

[Feronia]

I didn't go to any and I don't regret it. I was able to learn more just through reading books, talking to my midwife, and looking up things on the internet.

 

[MindUtopia]

We did NCT (and Natal Hypnotherapy, but wouldn't really consider that an 'antenatal class' as such) and I highly recommend it. I didn't really learn anything new necessarily (but I work in the health field and had been reading and planning for this birth for literally years), but getting to meet other couples who were having a first baby at the same time was invaluable. My daughter is now nearly 4 months old and I see the girls from my NCT class at least every other week. They've been a wonderful source of support and become really close friends. The first 3 months or so of being a new parent are very overwhelming and isolating unless you have friends who are going through the same things you are. Having extra support is really important as all of my close friends either have older kids or aren't having kids yet, so there are no other new babies in our social circle.

I would have paid quite a bit for that added support, but you also don't have to. If you can't afford the full course fee, be in touch with your local NCT office about fee concessions. My husband and I are both professionals (self-employed, plus I'm a PhD student) so we aren't 'poor' but we aren't rich either and the full course fee would have been a struggle to pay at the time. The full fee for the course was about £260 but we only had to pay £60. I've heard some people say you can only get a reduced fee if you're on benefits, but we aren't and we make too much to qualify for any sort of benefit, but I just told them our total income and they gladly reduced the fee. It's worth asking.

If you're interested in using natural pain relief method (more so than learning about pregnancy/birth/parenting), I'd also highly recommend Natal Hypnotherapy. You can do it yourself at home with the CD (£12.50) and book (about £15?), but the one day course is only £95. The course is nice, but you really don't need it. I had a wonderful home birth and didn't need any pain relief using just NH.

 

[Jcliff]

We took a birthing class at the hospital at 30 weeks. I somewhat feel I did it too early. Now that I can give birth any second, I already forgot most of what I was taught LOL

 

[Whimsy82]

I did the first class last night and loved it, honestly. It wasn't free but reasonable. I would have loved to do a hypnobirthing class but yeah, too expensive.

Most things I learned last night, I knew but I did learn some new things and felt like things were really organized. I was like a sponge soaking up all the info I really liked our instructor too, so that helped.

Honestly, for me the best part of the class was that my DH was there and learning too. There were a lot of things directed directly to birthing partners and that made me feel good.

Do I think it's ABSOLUTELY necessary? Nah. Did I still enjoy it and happy I'm going anyway? Yup!

All a matter of preference, I suppose.

 

[Smudge101]

I went to 1 class and it was a complete waste of an afternoon. Didn't tell me anything that I didn't already know either from here, other websites or You Tube.

I would recommend the Stork Walk though.

 

[Lawgirl]

I'm enjoying my NCT classes, especially meeting other mums to be, but I appreciate that they can be expensive. I'm also planning on going on my free NHS morning session.

 

[MrsTurner2012]

I didn't I with my first. I didn't see a need. I had always looked after babies and knew quite a bit.

I'm trying to get on a midwife run one this time though. For hubby rather than me as he doesn't have a clue and I know he'll enjoy it

 

[Emma867]

I've attended 4x weekly NHS ante natal classes and found them useful (except the breast feeding class but that's just me)

 

[Scout]

I didn't take any and I had my baby (my first) 12 days ago and didn't have any problems with just knowing what to do. Not sure what ppl learn in those classes, but as far as the actual labor and birth, I don't think anything is necessary...at least it wasn't for me.

 

[MrsCeder]

I've attended 4x weekly NHS ante natal classes and found them useful (except the breast feeding class but that's just me)

I also attended the same as above at my local children's centre. I found that I learnt a few things from each class. It's nice to meet other mums to be in the area and also get information & ask questions from a qualified professional instead of reading stuff online etc. I particularly found the breast feeding session useful as I really want to try this.